ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown pregame show could have a facelift come next season.

As of now, Michael Irvin and Steve Young do not have contracts for next year, NYP TV Sports has learned.

With host Chris Berman and lead analyst Tom Jackson already signed up, ESPN could easily just move Mike Ditka to the main table. Last season, Ditka operated in a more limited role as sort of the fifth-man in the studio.

The network also could look outside to Brett Favre, if he were to retire, or possibly Deion Sanders.

ESPN confirmed Irvin and Young do not have contracts yet.

“We are in discussions with both about returning,” a spokesman said.

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If Al Michaels had not been allowed by ESPN to join NBC, Cris Collinsworth most likely would have moved from studio analyst to play-by-player to team with John Madden.

“I really didn’t want to do it when we started this process,” Collinsworth said.

However, after practicing by calling a few games, including one with Madden, Collinsworth grew “ambivalent” about making the risky transition from analyst to play-by-player.

By the end, he was getting into the idea.

“It really would have been fun,” Collinsworth said.

One other note: Collinsworth is high on the NFL Network’s list, according to sources, to be its main game analyst for its new Thursday-Saturday late-season package.

“That is absolutely the first I’ve heard of it,” said Collinsworth, adding he was flattered.

At this point, with his NBC and HBO deals, it is unclear if, contractually, Collinsworth also could work for the NFL Network.

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Is there anything more uncomfortable to listen to than Mike Francesa and Chris Russo bullying update man Rich Ackerman on WFAN radio?

First, the duo, trying to be funny, tees up Ackerman for his lack of dates, even though something tells us neither Francesa nor Russo were exactly Don Juans before they got married.

Second, they just rip Ackerman to shreds over his reports from Turin. Of course, if a player criticized a teammate, Francesa and Russo would say, “How dare he!”

Mark Chernoff, FAN’s vice president, could try to stop it, but he has no inclination to do so.

“I don’t take it seriously at all,” Chernoff said.

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Though SportsNet NY, the Mets’ new network, is not yet on the air, when SportsCenter showed video of Alex Rodriguez it credited SNY. Ex-ESPNer Steve Berthiaume was the man holding the mike for SNY.

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Fox Sports Net’s Best Damn Sports Show Period is celebrating its 1,000th show, which is a very ESPN-thing to do. But since no one really expected it to make its 100th show, we guess there should be a sense of accomplishment.